High schools and colleges throughout the world, and even within the U.S., have developed varying methods for assessing the academic progress of students. It is therefore understandable that students have expressed uncertainty about converting their grades into the standard 4.0 GPA format.

Students whose schools operate on a U.S. letter scale can find their GPA by adding the numbers that correspond with their letter grades (the conversion chart is shown below) and dividing the total by the number of classes they have taken. For example, if a student took three classes and received an “A” (4) in two classes and a “B” (3) in the third, their GPA would be a 3.67 (11/3)

Although some scholarship providers don’t take GPA into account during the evaluation process, there are others that do. To ensure that only the most relevant awards are shown, Scholarships.com asks that students provide the best estimate of their high school or college GPA.

Sometimes, this may prove to be challenging. Things can get confusing enough for U.S. students whose schools operate on 5.0 point scales, percentage scales or letter scales. Foreign students who study in the U.S. may be even more stumped by attempts to translate grades from a completely different system.

In both cases, students should try to approximate their high school or college performance. If, after filling out their profile, students are still in doubt, they should contact the scholarship providers whose awards they are interested in. The provider can then make a final decision on whether the student qualifies for their scholarship.

U.S. Grading Scales

Scholarships.com asks students to provide their GPA on a 4.0 point scale. Students with GPAs that are greater than 4.0 (weighed GPAs) should record a 4.0 GPA on their Scholarships.com profile. If a scholarship provider asks for the student’s GPA, they may then provide them with more exact information. Below is a rubric for commonly accepted U.S. high school grade conversions as determined by the Department of Education. Undergraduate institutions have similar conversion charts but often consider scores below a 65% an “F”.

4.0 A 90-100%

3.0 B 80-89%

2.0 C 70-79%

1.0 D 60-69%

0.0 F under 60%

International Grading Scales

When a student’s school operates on a completely different scaling system, they may have no choice but to estimate. Students in countries such as Slovakia will have to flip their number scales to make sure that their “A”, a 1, will not be confused with the U.S. “D”, also a 1. Students from France, Greece and Peru will have to divide their GPAs by five to find the U.S. equivalent (their scale goes up to twenty). When in doubt, students should contact individual providers to find out if they qualify for their award.

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